Saldaña takes Cal Poly Pomona stint

Saldaña takes Cal Poly Pomona stint

Assistant coach to take over Pomona Division II soccer

By Tim Costner

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

After six years as the UCLA assistant men’s soccer coach, Todd
Saldaña will leave Westwood for a stint at Cal Poly Pomona as
the men’s and women’s head coach.

Saldaña will get the opportunity to practically build the
Division II program from the ground up, and also help build his own
reputation as a coach. He felt it was finally time to move on.

"It was a tough decision after being here for six years,"
Saldaña said. "UCLA has one of the top programs in the
country, but moving to a Division II program is a good opportunity
for me. There comes a time when you have things you’d like to say
and express, and I think it’s time for me to do that."

Saldaña will officially leave UCLA on May 15, but has
already begun to lay the groundwork at Pomona.

"They wanted to make a commitment to build the program,"
Saldaña said. "I think they really want one person to keep
things going in the same direction and try to connect both
programs. When you control both programs, you can piggyback things
like fund raising and having double-headers."

Saldaña’s vacancy will be filled by Paul Krumpe, a former
Bruin who played under UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid. Krumpe was a
member of the U.S. National Team from 1986-1991, and had coached
West Torrance High School from 1991-1995. He led his team to the
playoffs each year.

"I expect Paul to do as good of a job as all the past assistants
have done," Schmid said. "He wants to coach. He graduated from UCLA
in aerospace and didn’t want to do engineering. Coaching at the
Division I level is something he wants to do."

While he was at UCLA, Krumpe captained the Bruins to their first
national title in 1985, and holds the school single-season record
for assists by a defender with 10.

* * *

In other news, the Bruins have compiled an impressive list of
walk-ons, though Schmid cannot specify any names at this point.

"We have some walk-ons that we’re very happy with," Schmid said.
"A lot of other schools would consider them scholarship
players."

* * *

As for the returning players, UCLA forward Ante Razov was
invited to the next Olympic Team camp.